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EPC Plenary Meeting Update

EPC Plenary Meeting Update

press release commenting on the European Commission's antitrust investigation into the
's standardisation process for payments over the internet

The European Payments Council (
) Plenary agreed to publish a press release commenting on the European Commission's antitrust investigation into the standardisation process for payments over the internet undertaken by the
(see 'related links' below). The
fully understands that there is strong public interest in the European Commission's antitrust investigation into the
's work in the area of Single Euro Payments Area (
) online payments. It is always the
's intention to be as open and transparent as possible in its communications with its stakeholders and the media. In this instance however, and at this moment in time, the
has decided not to make public comments beyond the
's media statement of 27 September 2011 due to the pending proceedings. The
wishes to clarify however, that it has a proven track record of consultation of and interaction with stakeholders on
's deliverables.

Approval of updated versions of the
Credit Transfer and
Direct Debit Rulebooks

The
Plenary approved the
Credit Transfer Rulebook version 6.0, the
Core Direct Rulebook version 6.0 and the
Business to Business Direct Debit Rulebook version 4.0 and related implementation guidelines for publication in November 2011. These updated scheme rulebooks will take effect in November 2012. For detailed information on new elements introduced into the
payment schemes, refer to the article '
Scheme Rulebooks: Next Edition Available in November 2011!' (see 'related articles in this issue' below).

The
would also like to alert all
stakeholders that the forthcoming 'Regulation Establishing Technical Requirements for Credit Transfers and Direct Debits in Euro' (the
Regulation) is very likely to have significant impact on the future process applicable to
scheme development and rulebook release management. The
Regulation will give power to the European Commission to amend the technical requirements set out in this Regulation through delegated acts. This means that the
will be under the legal obligation to align the
Credit Transfer (
) and
Direct Debit (
) Rulebooks with the technical amendments determined by the European Commission. The
will be obliged to make related changes to the
and
Rulebooks effective according to the timelines mandated by the European Commission. This means payment service providers participating in the
and
Schemes will have to comply with amendments as per the effective dates defined by the European Commission. The
is therefore no longer able to ensure a predictable rulebook release management cycle. For details on this subject, refer to the article 'Brave New World: the European Commission Becomes the
Scheme Manager' (see 'related articles in this issue' below).

Survey carried out by the
to identify mandate checking obligations of existing national direct debit schemes in

The
carried out a survey to identify mandate checking obligations of existing national direct debit schemes in
. The
Plenary agreed to share the results of this survey with the European Union (
) legislator for consideration in the process leading to the adoption of the 'Regulation Establishing Technical Requirements for Credit Transfers and Direct Debits in Euro' (the
Regulation).

The findings of the
survey demonstrate that more than 73 percent of all direct debit payments in the
are executed on the accounts of consumers who today, do not request such mandate checks. The average number of direct debit payments per consumer each year is 68 in countries with a direct debit model not supporting these checks. In countries with more complex direct debit scheme models, this average is around 23. The findings are in line with the experience of bank customers; namely, that millions of direct debits are securely and correctly collected in Europe every day - without checks required to be performed by law. It is the view of
that the
legislator should take into account proven preferences of the majority of direct debit users. As such, the forthcoming
Regulation should refrain from making compulsory mandate checks which are optional in the
Core Scheme. Instead, mandate checking options should be agreed between payment service providers and their customers.

For more information on the results of and commentary on this
survey, refer to the link to the survey and related
Blog (see 'related links' below).

Approval of 'Mobile Contactless
Card Payments Interoperability Implementation Guidelines' developed by
, as well as the second edition of the '
White Paper on Mobile Payments' for publication by the end of 2011

Following a public consultation the
will publish the final version of the 'Mobile Contactless
Card Payments Interoperability Implementation Guidelines' in the fourth quarter of 2011.

These guidelines will enable the quick development of mobile solutions by:

Promoting open standards.

Describing key stakeholder roles.

Positioning
responsibilities in relation to other industry bodies.

Recommending adequate security levels for mobile payment value chain.

By the end of 2011, the
will also publish the second edition of the '
White Paper on Mobile Payments'. This updated version will include a new section on remote mobile payments as well as a high level mobile wallets description.

For detailed information on these soon-to-be launched documents detailing the
's work in the area of
mobile payments, refer to the article 'Beyond the Hype: Making Mobile Payments Work' (see 'related articles in this issue' below).

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In this article

Gerard Hartsink summarises the main items agreed in the European Payments Council (
) Plenary meeting, which took place in September 2011. During the meeting, the
Plenary agreed to publish a press release commenting on the European Commission's antitrust investigation into the standardisation process for payments over the internet undertaken by the
. The
Plenary approved updated versions of the
Scheme Rulebooks, as well as documentation covering the
's work in the area of mobile payments, for publication. The
carried out a survey to identify mandate checking obligations of existing national direct debit schemes in
. The
Plenary agreed to share the results of this survey with the European Union legislator for consideration. The main decisions are highlighted in the information box at the start of this article.

Key Information in this Article

Main items agreed by the European Payments Council (
) Plenary in September 2011:

The
Plenary agreed to publish a press release commenting on the European Commission’s antitrust investigation into the standardisation process for payments over the internet undertaken by the
.

The
Plenary approved the
Credit Transfer Rulebook version 6.0, the
Core Direct Rulebook version 6.0, and the
Business to Business Direct Debit Rulebook version 4.0, and related implementation guidelines for publication in November 2011. These updated scheme rulebooks will take effect in November 2012.

The
carried out a survey to identify mandate checking obligations of existing national direct debit schemes in
. The
Plenary agreed to share the results of this survey with the European Union (
) legislator for consideration in the process leading to the adoption of the ‘Regulation Establishing Technical Requirements for Credit Transfers and Direct Debits in Euro’ (the
Regulation). The findings demonstrate that more than 73 percent of all direct debit payments in the
are executed on the accounts of consumers who today, do not request such mandate checks.

The
Plenary approved the ‘Mobile Contactless
Card Payments Interoperability Implementation Guidelines’ developed by
, as well as the second edition of the ‘
White Paper on Mobile Payments’, for publication by the end of 2011.

Gerard Hartsink

Former Chair of the European Payments Council and Chairman of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation